When we accuse a country of being a "coloniser", it's meant as a bad thing. But what if colonialism is okay? What if the British Empire was, on balance... good?

That's the position of @NigelBiggar, a Professor Emeritus at Oxford University whose new book, “Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning”, is making heads explode all over Britain. Join Josh as he tries to wrestle with the ethics of the Raj, indigenous rights, racism, and one of the greatest crimes – or greatest virtues? – in political history.

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Josh Szeps

𝕁𝕠𝕤𝕙 𝕊𝕫𝕖𝕡𝕤 (@joshzepps) on X

Instagram (@joshszeps)

Josh Szeps on TikTok

Are Jews a minority? Do they deserve the same social-justice protections as other identity groups? Or are they white—perhaps even the “whitest” of white privileged elites?

David Baddiel is a comedian and writer. He helped turn comedy into ‘the New Rock’n’Roll’ when he created the hit TV shows ‘The Mary Whitehouse Experience’ and ‘Newman & Baddiel in Pieces’. He’s appeared on the UK’s biggest comedy shows including ‘Little Britain’, ‘Skins’, ‘8 Out of 10 Cats’, and ‘QI’, and he performed to 12,500 people at the Wembley arena in the UK’s first ever stadium comedy show.

Now, he has turned his ferocious intellect to his Jewishness. How does the social-justice Left think about Jews? Where do Jews fit in a ‘woke’ worldview? Baddiel’s brilliant new book and TV documenatry are both called “Jews Don't Count”.

To subscribe to Josh’s premium podcast feed, hit the Substack page at https://uncomfortableconversations.substack.com/subscribe

How long can ham sit on the Christmas table before you shouldn’t eat it? Can fried rice kill you? Can you store butter out of the fridge? Why did Josh start spewing chunks just twenty minutes after eating a chimichanga? Gary Kennedy is a world expert in food safety and the managing director of Correct Food Systems. To help you survive your impending holiday feast (and every Chinese takeaway you’ll ever have), don’t miss this quirky, compelling, uncomfortable Christmas special.

How would your life change if you found out, beyond all doubt, that you're a robot? What if nothing you’ve ever done was your own free choice? What if your brain just tricks you into feeling like you’re choosing things it already planned?

Josh can't believe that. But the Stanford Professor Robert Sapolsky, one of the world’s leading free-will sceptics, does. His latest book is “Determined: A Science of Life without Free Will”.

Prepare to have your mind blown. If you have one.

To subscribe to Josh’s premium podcast feed, hit the Substack page at https://uncomfortableconversations.substack.com/subscribe

Josh Szeps

𝕁𝕠𝕤𝕙 𝕊𝕫𝕖𝕡𝕤 (@joshzepps) on X

Instagram (@joshszeps)

Josh Szeps on TikTok

Today, over 3,200 of Josh’s arts-industry colleagues are engaging in a Palestinian Day of Action, wearing Palestinian scarves during performances nationwide. Josh, you’ll be shocked to learn, has some thoughts.

In a future of digital spying, inflationary economies, incompetent central banks and petty authoritarians, could Bitcoin be the guarantee of all your other freedoms? Josh was on Peter’s blockbuster podcast, What Bitcoin Did, and now Peter stops by the Uncomfy Convos studio on a recent trip to Sydney. He’s a super smart thinker about the role of the individual, the state… and your wallet.

To subscribe to Josh’s premium podcast feed, hit the Substack page at https://uncomfortableconversations.substack.com/subscribe

David Pakman is a progressive American political commentator who hosts one of the world’s most popular left-wing talk shows, with over 1.8 million subscribers. Josh picks his brain about the state of the media, of the Left… and of America.

To subscribe to Josh’s premium podcast feed, hit the Substack page at https://uncomfortableconversations.substack.com/subscribe

There's a LOT going on in the Uncomfy Convo world. You probably have a lot of questions. I'm here to answer them. 

What's wrong with empathy? Is effective altruism better? How did you develop your sense of right and wrong? Is suffering necessary for pleasure? These are the questions the psychologist Paul Bloom wrestles with. Enjoy the ride.

Yippee-ki-yay, Josh has quit his ABC Radio show to double down on Uncomfortable Conversations. Starting in the new year, you'll get additional free episodes, a YouTube channel, a live tour and more. Before embarking on his adventure, Josh wanted to speak with the most successful person who has recently pulled it off. Bari Weiss was an opinion writer and editor at The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. She walked away to do her own thing at The Free Press.

Now more than ever, we need you to subscribe to Josh’s premium podcast feed. Hit the Substack page at https://uncomfortableconversations.substack.com/subscribe